Puma Energy Africa Chief Operating Officer Christophe Zyde
the future of the continent, Puma Energy Africa Chief Operating Officer Christophe Zyde, has said.
The company plans to build storage facilities and terminals as
demand for refined products keeps growing, driven by markets and global
needs for higher grade fuels.
“Africa is still full of opportunities for growth and now we are in
full mode as a team to be part of that growth and help build the future
of the continent,” he told journalists in Johannesburg recently.
Zyde noted that they have invested significantly in Africa’s oil
and petroleum sector, but their investments underpin their commitment to
sustained economic and infrastructural development of the region.
This expansion, he pointed out, includes entering the South African
market with 123 fuel stations and building a storage depot at Richard
Bay.
The intended storage capacity is 46 million litres. This adds to
the 110,000 million litres capacity at Matola storage terminal in
neighbouring Mozambique which opened last year.
When added to existing storage in Beira, it brings Puma Energy’s
total storage capacity in that country alone to 275,500m³ strategically
situated to supply countries of the SADC sub-region.
According to him, the company’s business model is to link local
demand and international oil market through investment in
infrastructure.
Puma Energy does this by investing in world class and transformative infrastructure such as storage terminals.
Whilst Africa offers the potential for high growth, it lacks infrastructure and needs imported fuel, he stressed.
He observed that the continent’s unique set of needs form a natural
fit with Puma Energy’s growth strategy and today the group is one of
the largest independent storage and downstream companies operating in
sub-Saharan Africa.
Puma boss articulated that with African demand for oil anticipated
to grow approximately by 19 per cent come 2020, the group is well
positioned to capitalise on this.
It has gained its competitive advantage in Africa by offering
multiple supply routes and on-site support to guarantee security of
supply, investment and operational control of supply chain
infrastructure from ports to storage terminals, to trucks to on-site
facilities, and providing competitive pricing of fuels and lubricants.
Jonathan Molapo, Sub-Regional Head for Puma Energy Africa disclosed
that the investment at Richard’s Bay Port will enable Puma Energy to
supply specifically non-blended product with no additives to the African
market.
Having entered the African market in 2002, Puma Energy is today
recognised as the fastest growing independent mid and downstream oil
provider on the continent.
SOURCE:
THE GUARDIAN
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